Lynchburg’s Dessi Dupuy leads goal scorers into Division III soccer championships in KC

Dessi Dupuy surpassed 100 goals in her high school career, 103 at E.C. Glass in Lynchburg, Va., to be exact. When her college coach, Todd Olsen, asked Dupuy about her college goals, she stuck with the round number.

“She said, ‘Coach, I think I’d like to score 100 career goals,’” Olsen said. “I sort of winked at her and said, OK.”

As in, good luck.

But after a 27-goal freshman season at Lynchburg College, triple figures didn’t seem impossible, and with at least one game remaining in her college career, Dupuy stands at 105 career goals.

“It’s still kind of a shock,” Dupuy said.

The Hornets meet Illinois Wesleyan in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championships at 5 p.m. Friday in Swope Soccer Village.

Johns Hopkins (Md.) meets Williams (Mass.) in the other national semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

Kansas City will become a home for college soccer over the next four years. The Division III women’s and men’s championships are also set for Swope in 2015 and the Division II women’s and men’s championship will be played there in 2016 and 2017.

The Division I men’s College Cup, soccer’s Final Four, will be played at Sporting Park in 2015.

The first women’s championship brings one of the game’s most prolific scorers. The NCAA Division III women’s record of 124 is out of the question, but Dupuy’s total places her in the top 10.

“It’s great for the local fans and especially the local girls watching her,” Olsen said.

Celebrity status in Lynchburg?

“She’s famous,” teammate Angela Bosco said. “Everywhere I go, I hear, ‘Do you know Dessi?’”

Dupuy and Bosco, also a senior, have made a dynamic duo. Dupuy has 28 goals this season, Bosco has 29 and was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference player of the year.

Lynchburg, 25-0-1, plays an attacking style and averages 4.63 goals per game. But the team’s defense hunkered down and defeated Messiah College, which had won four of the previous six NCAA titles, on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.

The Hornets have been to one national semifinal. This is the first Final Four for Illinois Wesleyan, 18-6-1.

It’s also a Final Four debut for Johns Hopkins, and Williams seeks its first title in its 16th NCAA appearance.

Ohio Wesleyan coach looks for third men’s title

Ohio Wesleyan got in a practice at Rockhurst on Thursday and on the field together were the coaches with the most victories in college soccer.

Wesleyan’s Jay Martin owns 657 victories and the Hawks’ Tony Tocco has 642, in a combined 82 years, all at their original schools.

“Good players,” Martin said. “Anybody who says differently doesn’t get it. We have a pretty good tradition going, a pretty good legacy.”

Martin’s teams set a record with 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (1978-95) and have won two national championships, the latest in 2011. The program leads Division III with 35 NCAA appearances.

The Division III men’s semifinals begin at 11 a.m., with Oneonta State (N.Y.) taking on Wheaton (Ill.) at 11 a.m., followed by Tufts (Mass.) vs. Ohio Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m. The championship game is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Tufts, an at-large selection, defeated top-ranked Messiah 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

Oneonta State was perhaps the most impressive quarterfinal winner, defeating Brandeis 3-0, and Wheaton is the highest scoring team in the semifinals, averaging 2.79 goals per game.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Lynchburg’s Dessi Dupuy leads goal scorers into Division III soccer championships in KC."